We enjoyed viewing this Sloth in the jungle on a river boat ride near Limon, Costa Rica. We took this excursion while on a Panama Cruise. It was enjoyable to search for the wildlife as we sailed in the boat.

This sloth looks like it is smiling at us and was perfectly posed.

What can we learn from this sloth?

Sit back and relax – we don’t need to be constantly on the go

Smile no matter what are circumstances are. Worrying is not going to solve our problems

Take time to enjoy our surroundings

Be happy and content

Hope this will encourage you to take photographs to be reminders of valuable lessons.

I was invited to participate in a 4-H (Positive Youth Development and Mentoring Organization) event at Carlmont High in Belmont, CA, on Thursday, 11/9/17. My cousin, Tricia and her husband, David are in charge of the Photography events where there will be sessions to teach basic principals. Tricia and David are teachers at Carlmont High, and David loves photography as a hobby. Tricia asked me to help in these training sessions where we can work one on one with the children and their parents to help them to use their cameras. We will be going to different locations to shoot photographs in the next few months.

David and I talked about photography to a group of youth. David emphasized the importance of telling a story with the photographs we shoot. For our first photo shoot, we were allowed to walk on the sidelines of Bruce Usher Stadium and photograph the Carlmont Scots vs Mills Vikings football game. The assignment was to take pictures during the football game. It could be of the game itself, the fans in the stands, the cheerleaders, the mascots, or anything else we could think of. It was a lot of fun talking to the youth and their parents. We provided suggestions about how to take pictures during a football game. The youth had a great attitude and asked a lot of excellent questions. This was the first time that I was allowed to walk on the sidelines of a football game to take pictures, and I had a blast! It was so much fun! I thank Tricia and David for allowing me to have the opportunity to be a mentor to this great group of youth.

Here’s my story from my photographs. The photographs above are in sequence for a particular running play. The running back from Carlmont did an outstanding job breaking a tackle to gain extra yardage. The Mills defense did an excellent job at team defense where there were multiple players tackling the running back.

I’m glad David reminded me the importance of telling a story thru our pictures. In the above photographs, we can see the perseverance of Mills to bring down the running back. Mills did lose in this game. But we can see in the above pictures, they tried their best. Btw, I am a Mills High School alumni.

I took this photograph of the spider about 7 years ago in Costa Rico. I was shooting with a Fuji Digital FinePix S100FS camera. I bought this camera because at the time it was a cheaper alternative instead of getting a digital SLR camera. It is a bridge between a compact and a DSLR camera. It was a good camera for the price.

When my wife asked me about posting this photograph, I was accessing the quality of the pictures I took on this trip with this camera. I was reminded about the limitations of this camera which confirmed my later decision to finally purchase a regular DSLR. There is a limit in the resolution of the pictures taken with this Fuji camera, and I was not satisfied with this quality. When I did purchase my DSLR, I was satisfied the higher price had included more features. So I felt I was getting more for my money versus if I had purchased this camera at an earlier time.

Since I have been shooting with my Canon DSLR and my many different lenses, I realized how my photography has improved. I am shooting faster and the quality of the photographs are better due to my adaptation to the newer camera. Also the resolution is so much better with my current DSLR. Since I am now able to shoot faster and with greater frequency, I can see the progression and improvement of my photography. Practice does lead to better photos.

Here are 4 simple guidelines to help you to evaluate and improve your pictures:

Review your old photos – Are you satisfied with the resolution and sharpness of the image? Do you like the colors?

If you are not satisfied, do you want to move on to a better camera – perhaps a DSLR?

Evaluate your budget to see how much you would like to spend to determine your next camera and/or lens. Evaluate the camera package to get the most features for your money.

After you purchase your new camera, practice and shoot. Practice will help your photography to improve. Challenge yourself to take photos which do not need to be altered via software.

Lastly this was a huge spider – about 3 1/2 inches in size. It was interesting to see this huge spider in it’s web environment. Go and look at your old photos and reflect to see if you like the quality of your photos.

If you have questions about cameras and lenses, feel free to comment or send an inquiry to me. I will answer your questions about camera equipment.

Like this:

This was taken at the very top of AT&T Park. I have a fear of heights. So climbing up to this height and looking down was pretty scary.

I love to go to watch the SF Giants and try to get there earlier so I can freely roam the stadium. I did this at Candlestick Park and hope to do more of this at AT&T Park.

As I reflect and look at this picture, I do remember my fear of being up so high. It was a long ways down. But being on “top” gave a great view of the stadium.

This reminds me that we can have mixed fears when we are on top of our “game” no matter what that is. Achievements are valuable and rewarding. But we need to realize when on top, to be thankful and realize to fall is dangerous.

The San Francisco Giants are a great example of winners who keep striving to get back on top. We all need to realize in whatever we do – Don’t Give Up To Make it to the Top!

Introducing our new line of pins/brooches. You can order these from this website or from Etsy.

We love photos and realize we do not have enough wall space to enjoy “Outside Inside”.

We mount our images on either a plastic or galvanized metal back. The photograph is coated and protected with a hand brush strokes seal.

The Willie Mays Number “24” is from Candlestick Park. There were round disks with players’ retired numbers. Tony took photographs of these disks 25 years ago. Now we have pins of these disks.

You can wear the galvanized metal back pins using a removable strong magnet on your clothing, caps, coats or whatever you like.

OR you can get the plastic back pin and pin to your clothing.

If you purchase from our website from November 25 to November 28 —

You can buy 2 and get 1 free – plus shipping unless we can deliver to you in San Francisco Downtown.

What are your choices? These are round pins!

Red Orange Maple Leaf – 1.5 inches in diameter

Orange Maple Leaves Dancing in the Cyan Sky – 1.5 inches in diameter

Willie Mays Number “24” – 2 inches in diameter

Please indicate

Plastic Back with Pin — $10.00

Galvanized Metal Back with Magnet — $15.00

Transactions are done via PayPal. Safe and Secure! Use the Order Images Tab above and indicate what pin and what type of back you would want in the box – Additional Orders. Please include your email address and contact information so we can verify your order. If we personally deliver in San Francisco Downtown, cash can be paid upon receipt. Photo Ware items will be delivered within 2 weeks.

You can purchase from our Etsy Store also. But the deal is only on this website. You can also customize the photo you want on your “Photo Ware”. No extra charge and just select image on our website.

This sugar maple bright leaf is interesting with the curved tips. Autumn is wonderful. I love the bright red and orange colors.

It is interesting the back side of this leaf is not bright orange red. It is a dull gray color. As I was shooting, I had to make sure I took the good side of the leaf.

Photos of nature can teach us lessons in life. We all have our good and bad sides as individuals. One reason I love photography is it allows me to focus on beauty around us. Focusing on Creation’s Beauty brings out my “better” side. Take photographs that speak to you. Print them to display in your home to focus on nature to bring out your “better”self. I have a tag on Twitter – Bring Outside Inside!

This is a Maple Sugar Leaf backlit. I love the evergreen tree branch shadow behind the leaf. It is like 2 images within one leaf. When I am taking photographs, I examine all the scenery in detail to see the different nuances.

Shadows are interesting. They can give a unique perspective to your pictures. Next time you are taking a hike or just enjoying nature, look at the shadows. Your pictures will have a different dimension if you capture the shadows too. See if you can capture the contrast of the lighting, color and the shadow darkness in your image.